Snót, brúðr, svanni, svarri, sprakki,
fljóð, sprund, kona, feima, ekkja,
rýgr, víf ok drós, ristill, sæta,
man, svarkr ok hæll, mær ok kerling.
Snót, brúðr, svanni, svarri, sprakki, fljóð, sprund, kona, feima, ekkja, rýgr, víf ok drós, ristill, sæta, man, svarkr ok hæll, mær ok kerling.
Snót, bride, lady, haughty woman, lively one, matron, dame, woman, lass, widow, mighty woman, wife and girl, gentlewoman, grass-widow, maid, proud woman and widow, maiden and old woman.
[8] mær ok kerling ‘maiden and old woman’: The same combination of heiti is found in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 107): Mær heitir fyrst hver, en kerli<n>gar er gamlar eru ‘Each one is called mær at first, but kerlingar when they are old’. In poetry mær f. can also mean ‘daughter’ and ‘wife’. Kerling f. usually refers to an old woman of low status (cf. karl m. ‘old man, humble man’), and probably for that reason it is rarely used in poetry (but see Vitg Lv 1/3-4I).